h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Supermarine Spitfire - Aviation Legend - A9990741
Author: Matt James - (in a brownie induced coma) - U168592

This has been a project I have wanted to do for quite some time. I've tried to keep it succinct and manageable, hopefully it's informative but also a decent read.

Comments invited, as always

MJ (it's not a motorbike, rider, it's a Spitfire pilot!)

airport near Southhampton, Hampshire -> Southampton
co-ordinating -> coordinating

amongst pilots, -->amongst pilots;
favourite -> favorite
manoeuvrability -> maneuverability

whenever he rubbernecked -->needs explanitory footnote


Apart from travelling --> traveling
honour --> honor.

I'm wondering if it would be worth mentioning some of the major variants of the Spirfire -- ie the ones that were made in the largest numbers, the one that was made in responce to the FW 190 and the one that introduced the Rolls Royce Griffon engine. It woudl also be useful to compare the specs of the aircraft at the start of the war and the end of the war - ie how much quicker it got, how much hevier and how much more powerful.

also I think a mention of the Seafire varient could be useful.

If you need a hand of this, just ask.

tjm

Hi MJ... A very good, informative and detailed article



"The version that met with final approval, and the Mark I, was armed thus with eight .303-inch Browning machine guns, able to reach a top speed of 361mph."


***suggest***

*The version that met with final approval was the Mark I and was armed with eight .303 inch Browning machine guns. The Mark I was able to reach a top speed of 361mph.


ST

Thanks for the read. I've been a WW2 aviation aficionado since childhood, and the Spit was always one of my favourites. Poetry in motion...(of course, you know we Yanks were terribly jealous, not having anything close to the Merlin at the time...It was the Merlin that turned the P-51 Mustang into a real air superiority fighter, but that was later)

Good entry!

all, I make those ammendments (although Jon, I'll stick with the proper English and not US, as that's Guide Style)

As for not mentioning the other variants in great detail, I was going to but decided not to. I don't want it to get too overblown, and that's the other reason I decided not to add vital statistics in.

I deliberately left the Seafire out, because there MAY be another Entry along shortly I may add it in reference to the RN though.

MJ

Great entry...

You may like to mention that the Spitfire has made it into the top 3 of the BBC's Culture Show list of British design icons,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/cultureshow/designquest/vote/

The results will be published tommorrow...

I'd quite like to see a section on the development of the aircraft throughout the war, listing the various models and what was changed, for instance, off the top of my head I think the MkVB was the first to be fitted with 20 mm cannon, the Mk22 the first to be fitted with the 'mustang-style' canopy, etc...

There's quite a good page here to give you an idea...

http://www.spitfiresociety.demon.co.uk/whatmark.htm

Oh, and a piece of trivia for you, don't know if it'll be useful or not though...

The reason the Me-109 could outdive the Spitfire, thus the reason the German pilots standard tactic for escaping a Spitfire became sticking their plane into a steep dive, was that the Merlin engine didn't have a fuel injection system, so if it were subjected to negative 'G' all the fuel would be pushed up to the top of the engine and the whole thing would just cut out - hence the reason that whenever you've seen a spitfire flying along in a film, when it wants to dive it first rolls over sideways onto its back.

The Me-109 on the other hand had a pressurized fuel injection system, so the engine would keep running whatever you did with the plane.

Cardi - Yeah I know, that's what inspired me to get off my bum and finish writing this!

Whisky - Thanks for those, but as I said, I don't want the Entry to get too overblown. If I start listing every Mark and the subtle differences it's going to get too convoluted in my opinion.

There's the wing tip clipping, jungle variants, desert variants, cockpit changes, prop changes, Griffon engines, undercarriage, lengthening of the airframe...etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. You see the problem? I wasn't looking at writing a comprehensive Entry on the Spitfire from Mk I through to Mk 24 and all the variants in between because that would be just, quite frankly, silly (and to the average reader a little dry and boring in my opinion).

MJ

Fair enough Matt...

Saying that, I think now I will add a section under the Into Active Service header after the Battle of Britain as it sort of makes me think, 'okay after the BoB the Spit disappeared '. I'll add a little more about what the Spitfire was used for during the rest of the war and the major changes. Such as cannon for tank-busting duties, the Seafire, V1 chasers, photo recon etc. Give me a bit of time while I put it together!

There we go, duly updated.

apologises for the yank spellings, t'was 2 in the morning and though I told word it was UK english, Word was not willing to respond to me and I was too tired to spot the difference

I blame Bill Gates and also 2legs

Wurd sux....

Anyway, this :

"Dogfights between the two aircraft were tense affairs, but would invariably lead to the Messerschmitt diving to safety. At the end of the so-called Phoney War in April 1940, Germany..."

seems to be lacking a transitional sentence, methinks. The first sentence also suggests "invariably" that the Spirfire wasn't too good at marksmanship, what with the Messerschmitts "diving to safety"...
hmmm?

Yet, a good subject, well-attacked. Though, I'm a big fan of the Bell Aircobra.

Cheers TR

I've updated the Entry again after a little rewrite ADded some more links too.

MJ

THIRD?! Third in the Great British Design Quest? It's a farce! Concorde won?! It's half bleedin' French!

Concorde wasn't a design that lasted that long, but it was a world leader for a couple of decades. It also was so far ahead of its time, its only been equalled once and in terms of high speed airtravell it is much quicker than anythign we have at the moment, but too expencive and too cramped.

The spitfire was the best fighter for all of a year or two until they ploncked the Merlin in the Mustang. The spitfire was also almost totaly obsolete by the end of the war.

I'd have favoured Beck's map personally (less compromised and its design influence has lasted longer) , but the merlin engine, now that is a great british design !

I still stand by the Red Telephone box. Simple, iconic, and easy to spot in the fog.

Anyway. I've added more to the Entry now, and think it's just about done

>>Then with the implementation of a different engine, the Griffon,

the Griffon was a next generation Merlin, so not really a different engine

Just a couple of points. Sh*t and Scr**ms ( Shepherd Neame's) Spitfire was only meant as a commemerative ale, and was due to be withdrawn until a major outcry from affecianados caused a volte face from SN.

M anston Airadrome has both a Spit and a Hurricane on display, being part of Hellfire Corner, and one of the most heavily raided air fields in Britain (possibly before or after Hawkinge {honours probably even}) I will ffind the links tomorrow.

Ah, thanks for those, have duly updated the Entry (with links and corrections)

MJ